


Learning to Smile

by FrozenNocturne



Category: Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-18 00:52:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7292890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenNocturne/pseuds/FrozenNocturne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a quick story in which a young Mistborn finds there are some things which are not so easy to learn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Learning to Smile

Vin had never been much for smiling. As a child, Reen would have beaten her at the first sign of one. 'Smile too much, and those noblemen will wonder what you're up to. Unwanted attention is a pretty quick way to get us both killed', he'd say as he raised his hand. Later, after Reen left, her life in the gang did not exactly give her cause for joy. Even if it had, she would not have smiled for fear that the others in the group would see her as a woman and get any ideas. So it was that when she first became Valette Renoux, she found her face unaccustomed to the motions.

"What was that?!", Kelsier spluttered as he collapsed with laughter. "You look like you've burned a bad alloy!" 

"Kelsier, if you wish to observe the lesson, please do so quietly." Sazed's voice matched the undisturbed calm of his face, while still somehow managing to convey his annoyance. An annoyance which Vin herself was finding more and more difficult to hide.

"Maybe," Vin spat between gritted teeth, "that's because a certain someone's unwanted comments are beginning to give me a headache."

"Lady Valette, you must endeavour to remain calm, even when you are insulted directly to your face. Lose decorum, and your reputation goes with it." Sazed's calm only served to fan her anger further.

"Valette may need to keep a cool head, but Vin needs to box Kelsier around the ears before she explodes," Vin said, exasperated.

Sazed gave a wry smile, setting his book down. "Irritating as Kelsier may be, he does have a point. A noblewoman needs to be able to give an easy smile, and, if you'll pardon my bluntness, the best you seem to be doing is a grimace. Not exactly the best way to place the ones around you at ease."

"And how am I supposed to do this easy smile?" 'A happy Skaa is a suspicious Skaa', Reen's voice whispered. 'Keep your head down, look small, don't be noticeable.' 

Kelsier rose from where he had been lounging, frown creasing his face.  
"You don't just 'do' an easy smile, it's supposed to come naturally." Vin's heart sank as Kelsier's face lit up.

"I know, we just have to get you into the habit of laughing!" He grinned as he spoke, how could he express his joy so freely? "And as the self-proclaimed funniest man in the Final Empire, there's no one better to get you into the habit!"

"And since when are you the funniest man in the Final Empire?"

"Since just now."

Sazed frowned, but seemed decide that arguing was not worth the effort. "Well, we'll try Kelsier's way then. I will continue to tutor you in decorum and how a lady should behave. Kelsier will, as he puts it, try to get you into the habit of laughing."

Laughing?' Laughing will draw unnecessary attention, Vin. You need to be invisible, or I will kill you.' Vin ignored Reen's whispering voice, and leaned on her hands.

"You have got to be joking."

Kelsier's grin widened even more as he pulled Vin from her chair. 

"Nope, you haven't seen any joking yet! I'm going to have your sides splitting within the hour, or I renounce my title as the funniest man in the Final Empire!"

Kelsier marched Vin from the room, her face seeming more like someone dragged to the gallows than someone about to laugh. Sazed simply allowed himself a smile as he returned to his book. If anyone could teach that girl to smile, it was Kelsier.


End file.
